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"LOVE CONQUERS ALL"
By Paramahamsa Hariharananda
Paramahamsa Hariharananda, a great master of India, was born on May 27th, 1907 in West Bengal, India. He spent his long life studying, teaching, and fulfilling his mission to share the philosophy and technique of Kriya Yoga with the people of the world until leaving his mortal body on December 3, 2002 at the age of 95.
This great master was a fully realized direct disciple of Swami Shriyukteshwar Giri, as well as a fountain of love, strength, and purity for the thousands of students he personally trained all over the world.
In India, the 100th anniversary of a yoga master's birth is of great importance. A year long series of events and celebrations, starting in India on 27th May, 2006 and ending on 27th May, 2007, will be held in his honor.
Students are preparing 100 celebrations worldwide to honor their master in his centenary year. Spiritual conferences on world peace and other humanitarian concerns, cultural exchanges, charitable projects, publications of the complete works of his writings and teachings, and instruction in the practice of Kriya Yoga are being planned.
Born as Rabindranath Bhattacharya, this great soul known affectionately as "Baba" (father) to his spiritual children, showed an extraordinary spiritual destiny from his most tender years.
By age 4 1/2, he had already memorized all the puja mantras of Hinduism by simply hearing his father, Shri Haripada Bhattacharya, recite them a few times. Under the guidance of his father, he quickly mastered Vedic astrology, astronomy, and palmistry. At age twelve, he took initiation in the path of jñana yoga from renowned realized master, Shri Bijoy Krishna Chattopadhyaya.
In 1932, he went to meet the great Kriya master, Swami Shriyukteshwar Giri. Pleased by the divine propensities of young Rabinarayan, Shriyukteshwarji initiated him into Kriya Yoga, taught him Cosmic Astrology, and entreated him to move in and take charge of the famous Karar Ashram in Puri, Orissa.
In 1935, he met Paramahamsa Yogananda, and received the second Kriya initiation from him. In 1938, he renounced the material life and entered his master's ashram in Puri, Orissa, starting the life of an ascetic monk as Brahmachari Rabinarayan.
He received the third Kriya initiation from Swami Satyananda Giri in 1941, and from 1943 to 1945 the last higher Kriya initiations were given by Shrimat Bhupendranath Sanyal, the pious householder disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya.
After living a strict spiritual practice of sincere meditation and maintaining silence for many years, in 1949 he obtained the vision of the eternal yogi Babaji Maharaj who blessed him and prophesized that his mission would be to spread the message of the Kriya Yoga masters to the East and West.
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